Of our faulty hearts
by Ierpier
Summary: Regina realizes the key to Snow White is her daughter; Princess Emma. She disguises herself as Emma's handmaiden to get close to the girl, but might end up getting a little closer than intended ...


The key to Snow White was Emma. It was so simple that Regina almost felt mad at herself for not noticing it before. In all her planning of vengeance over the years, Regina had always failed to notice the blonde little girl. It was only now that Emma had grown into a young woman of eighteen years old that the queen started noticing the girl. Perhaps it was because the blonde was no longer safely locked up in her parents' castle, perhaps it was because nowadays the blonde was simply a more enticing sight.

Regina gestured at the mirror and the image that the genie had shown her vanished, making place for the genie's face. "When will she be out of the castle?" She asked, turning around a second later when the doors creaked and Henry walked into the room. The genie made a sound of acknowledgement before dissipating from the mirror.  
"Father. Did you get me what I need?" She asked, turning her attention back to the mirror and impatiently raising her eyebrow at the genie.  
"Yes. But are you sure my dear? To take hearts is one thing, but to so carelessly …"  
"I am sure." She snapped at her father, who immediately jumped back at her outburst. He was feeble man, he loved his daughter, but was powerless to protect her from herself.  
"Of course my dear." He quickly supplied and handed her the vial with the long blonde hair he had plucked from the princesses' cape earlier. Regina smiled and softly stroked her father's hand in gratitude before taking the vial between two fingers and holding it up.  
"Wonderful, with this –"

"Your majesty, the princess and her parents will be visiting the market. Rumor has it the princess is looking for a new handmaiden." The genie interrupted Regina's musings and the former queen snarled at him, before smiling at the news. "Well, I have the feeling she will find one _exactly_ to her liking then."

* * *

"I will not know what I will come to look like, so I need you to watch me while I transform so you know that it is me when I return." The queen drawled while putting on the peasant garbs she ordered Graham to steal earlier that day. The hunter was watching her from the bed, nodding in understanding at her explanation. Regina usually didn't like letting the huntsman in on her plans, that hadn't worked out very well before, but she had decided that the man's reliability had increased significantly since she had ripped out his heart.  
"Pardon me, my Queen, but why don't you just transform yourself using your magic? I have seen you do it before?"  
Normally the queen would have been annoyed at her guard questioning her plans, but this time she indulged it. After all, the man had proven his value the night before. "Because it won't be enough if her parents don't recognize me." She turned to the hunter with a wicked smile. "I have to be _perfect_ for her."

She grabbed the little vial that she had prepared the night earlier from her nightstand and easily flipped the lid from it. The previously clear liquid had taken a golden brown color after Emma's hair was added to it. Without rewarding Graham with another glance she put the little vial to her lips and drank the liquid. Immediately a warm tingle raced through her limbs and her heart started a frantic beat. The queen had to reach out to the wall to keep standing as magic coursed through her veins. A few breaths later the magic subsided and trickled to the floor like blood from invisible wounds. Slowly she opened her eyes and gazed into the mirror.

At her reflection.

The vial was thrown across the room within a second and splattered into pieces when it hit the wall. Graham shot up from the bed and eyed the Queen with wide eyes.  
"I'm – I'm guessing it didn't work?" He carefully asked, earning himself a furious gaze from the Queen. "How do I look, Graham?" The queen drawled, stalking up towards the huntsman.  
"Like- like yourself, your majesty." Graham answered, unconsciously pulling the covers up towards him.  
"Exactly. That imp lied to me, the spell doesn't work." The queen fumed. Graham wisely stayed quiet as he watched the queen turn back towards the mirror.

"I'll do this the old fashioned way." She promised and waved her hands, covering herself in a purple smoke. When the smoke dissipated, her mirror image had changed as intended. She had turned into a lovely young girl, no older than twenty, with curly brown hair and doe brown eyes. She was soaked in the innocence that Snow would definitely approve of, but with a glint in her eyes that would capture the sight of the young princess. She turned to examine herself in the mirror and sighed. "Well, it's not as fun as I would've liked, but I suppose this will work."

* * *

Emma tried to look as regal as possible while treading the bumpy roads of the market fair, which proved to be quite a challenge, considering her parents had barely allowed her to walk without holding her hand. Granted, Emma had had a tendency to run off and get lost since she'd been a little girl, but she had outgrown that phase. Most of the times at least.  
"Mom, I told you, I don't need a new handmaiden." She hissed, quickly both smiling gently and a avoiding a guy that looked mildly drunk. The fairs her parents had taken her to lately were a disconcerting place: while Emma loved to be away from the royal rabble, some of the people she met far from the safety of the castle walls could be quite unsettling.  
Snow glanced back at her daughter and smiled before waving her hands in a dismissing gesture. "Of course you need one my dear, ever princess grows up with one and for good reason: once you need to take up more responsibilities, you can't be expected to do all your house holding duties alone. On the other hand, a handmaiden can teach you prominent skills you will need later in life."  
"Like sewing?" Emma muttered, kicking a rock in front of her and flinching when it hit her mother's ankle. Snow turned around and sighed, taking her daughters shoulders and forcing her to meet her gaze, her voice dropped down to a whisper.  
"Listen, there's that, but the life of a princess can be a lonely one. I've been there. A handmaiden is good company, she can become your friend."  
"So we're _actually_ buying me a friend, gee, thanks mom."  
"Emma!" Snow hissed at her, taking her daughter's hand and pulling her with her. "You should be glad you get to pick out your own handmaiden, your father and I could also have picked someone for you. Now stop behaving like a child, you're an adult _and _a princess."  
"But apparently I still need a babysitter."

Snow decided to ignore the remainder of her daughter's remarks.

* * *

It was tiresome to say the least; young girls groveling at her feet, presenting themselves as handmaidens. Emma was usually left to talk with the girls while her parents talked with the girl's parents. (or so Emma assumed). Usually before Emma could even get herself to speak to the girl, Snow would shake her head and would pull her daughter over to the next girl. Her mother had assured her that owning a handmaiden was nothing like owing a slave, but Emma definitely felt like she was walking over a slave market.

"Your highness, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Rosemary Bay. My father is –"  
"Do you want to be my handmaiden?" Emma interrupted the girl. She had heard more names than she could count; from what she presumed were lords to what sounded like unknown peasants. It didn't matter: none of them meant anything to her anyway. She eyed the girl suspiciously and gestured for her to stand up.  
"Yes, your highness, it would be an honor." The girl replied with a perfect smile, but Emma had no trouble seeing through the look in the girl's eyes. She glanced up towards the man she presumed was her father and nodded to him.  
"You truly want to leave your family behind to come live with me in the castle? To leave your father?"  
"It would be an honor." The girl replied dutifully, but the princess had already seen enough. She smiled at the girl and shook her head.  
"You're not what I am looking for." Emma told the girl, before giving a small curtsy and pulling her mother away from the girl's father. The blonde princess glanced over her shoulder just long enough to see a secret look of relief crossing over the young girl's face before she was abruptly jolted awake when she bumped into a something.

Or someone.

"Your highness, my apologies." The woman she had evidently bumped into scrambled and quickly gave a curtsy before lifting dark brown eyes up to blue ones.  
"No, No I should have watched where I was going." Emma stammered, answering with a curtsy of her own, but nearly tripping when she took in the sight of the woman standing in front of her. She was taken aback by the stunning beauty of the woman: the woman's garbs did little to hide her peasant stature, but she carried herself like a member of nobility. Her slightly toned complexion and dark eyes made her look like a princess from another land that had come to grace hers. A thin shawl hid dark hair, but did little to hide her sharp features of her face from the princess. Emma's eyes glazed over for a second before she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.  
"Are you okay?" The woman asked, an amused chuckle gracing her deep, warm voice. It send tingles down Emma's spine as she quickly regained her footing and grinned awkwardly at the woman.  
"Yes, I am. It's just the heat." Emma cleared her throat and glanced up towards the woman again. "I'm Emma."  
The woman chuckled and Emma's heart jumped slightly at the sound. "Yes, I know who you are. Everybody at the fair is going haywire about your presence here."  
The princess shuffled awkwardly at the woman's words. "Yes, ahem, of course you know."

"Emma! We have to get going, at this rate we will never find you a handmaiden." Snow called impatiently and Emma gave another goofy grin to the mysterious woman.  
"Sorry, duty calls." She apologized before reluctantly shuffling away. Or she would have, if the woman hadn't grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back.

"You're looking for a handmaiden? I happen to have served for years as a handmaiden." The woman answered, pulling the young princess closer to her. "And I happen to be in need of a princess to … serve." She smiled and suddenly Emma found breathing becoming increasingly hard. She cleared her throat and stepped away from the woman.  
"What, ahem, what's your name?"

"Gina." The woman replied before she dropped Emma's hand and turned around. She walked away from the princess, leaving the blonde standing in confusion for a second before twirling around again and giving the princess a wicked grin.

"So, do you want me or not?"


End file.
